More City Hall transparency coming

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO  Detailed crime statistics, gallons of water used per household and the locations of every street light in San Diego may soon be conveniently available to residents, entrepreneurs and anyone else who’s interested.

The city is moving forward with plans to become the first local government in the region and among the first in the nation to post nearly all of its data online in a user-friendly web portal.

The goal is boosting civic engagement, increasing government transparency and spurring economic development through start-up businesses using the data to make money and solve problems.

“People are going to be able to do all kinds of cool stuff with it that we haven’t thought of,” Councilman Mark Kersey said.

The council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee unanimously approved on Wednesday the city’s first “open data” policy and a timeline that envisions the data becoming available in late 2015.

In addition to databases, city officials said the portal would include maps, charts, tables and other kinds of data. Sensitive and private information, such as the social security numbers of residents or city employees, won’t be included.

The city plans to hire a chief data officer by September and present the policy to the full City Council for approval this fall.

The Sunlight Foundation and Open San Diego, two advocacy groups for open data, have endorsed the city’s proposed policy.